“So, Goddess, why are you in my room?!”
Hanyu Genichi pushed open the wooden door to the room Demeter had assigned him, intending to get some much-needed rest.
Instead, he looked up and found the goddess lying on his bed.
She was stretched out on her side in a thin silk nightgown, one elbow resting on the pillow while her other hand scrolled through a manga on the phone.
Her posture was lazy and completely at ease.
Genichi froze in the doorway.
Tilting his head, he stared at the uninvited goddess in utter confusion.
“The reason is simple.
This is my room, so naturally, I would be here.”
Demeter didn’t even look up from the phone.
Her tone made it sound as though Genichi was the intruder.
“Wasn’t this the room you assigned to me?”
Genichi stepped inside and glanced around.
The room was small but clean and tidy.
It contained a wooden bed, a desk, and a wardrobe, while the window overlooked the flowers and plants growing in the Familia’s courtyard.
He clearly remembered Demeter handing him the key half an hour ago and cheerfully declaring that this would be his little home from now on.
“That’s right.
Which means we’ll be living together from now on.”
Demeter finally lowered the phone and looked up.
The smile on her face made Genichi’s skin crawl.
“Aren’t you happy?”
Genichi’s face was practically one enormous question mark.
His eyes widened as he stared at Demeter’s partly translucent silk nightgown.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, it perfectly outlined every curve of her voluptuous figure.
Combined with the amusement in her eyes, the sight sent Genichi’s imagination wandering.
He unconsciously swallowed.
‘No, no, no!
She’s a goddess—Demeter!
She may not be as dangerous as Freya in the original story, but she’s definitely not someone I can take lightly!’
She was clearly teasing him.
If he openly stared at her like a pervert, there was no telling how she might punish him.
Realizing this, Genichi raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.
Smack!
The sharp sound echoed through the quiet room.
The burning pain in his cheek immediately cleared his head and drove away every improper thought.
“Seriously, Goddess, what are you trying to do?”
Genichi held his reddened cheek and stared helplessly at Demeter.
A trace of admiration flashed through her eyes when she saw how decisively he had used pain to regain control.
The young man possessed far more self-control than she had expected.
Most people would have lost their heads if a goddess in a nightgown offered to share a room with them.
They might even have acted recklessly.
Genichi had initially lost his composure, but he immediately used pain to clear his mind.
Such restraint was rare among mortals of the Lower World.
Demeter might admire him, but that wouldn’t stop her from teasing him.
“I’m keeping an eye on you so you can’t run away.”
She smiled sweetly, yet the sight still made his skin crawl.
“You’re my precious little visitor from another world.
If you sneak away while I’m sleeping, who am I supposed to cry to?”
“Run away?
Where could I possibly go?”
Genichi rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know my way around, I don’t have any money, and I only understand this world’s language because of my skill.
If I ran away, I probably wouldn’t survive for three days.”
“You never know.”
Demeter gently waved her slender finger.
“Who knows when your Transmigration Gate might suddenly finish cooling down?
What if you wake up in the middle of the night, open it, and escape?
All my efforts would go to waste.”
Genichi opened his mouth to argue, only to realize that Demeter had a point.
He possessed the Transmigration Gate, and its cooldown lasted thirty days.
He had only used it today, but who knew what might happen after those thirty days?
From Demeter’s perspective, worrying that he might escape was perfectly reasonable.
“Fine.
How are we dividing the room?”
Genichi sighed in resignation.
“Do you even need to ask?”
Demeter patted the bed beneath her as though the answer were obvious.
“You sleep on the floor, and I sleep in the bed!
How could a noble goddess possibly sleep on the floor?”
Genichi fell silent.
‘I knew it!’
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue.
Having somewhere in Orario that protected him from the wind and rain was already enough.
At least he didn’t have to sleep in the streets or crawl into the sewers.
Besides, Demeter was a goddess.
Taking in a suspicious visitor from another world and hiding his secrets was already an enormous act of kindness.
“Fine, fine.”
Following Demeter’s directions, Genichi retrieved spare bedding and a mat from a cabinet in the corner, then began arranging them on the floor.
As he worked, he tried to comfort himself.
‘I’m already doing better than plenty of transmigrators.
I have a place to sleep—even if it’s the floor; a roof—even if I’m sharing with a goddess; and food—even if I’m living off Demeter’s charity for now.’
After preparing his bed, Genichi checked his backpack and the weapons resting in the corner.
Once he confirmed that everything remained where he had left it, he finally relaxed.
“By the way, Goddess.”
He turned toward Demeter, who had already resumed reading manga on the phone.
“Do you really intend to share a room with me every night?
Won’t the members of your Familia find that strange?”
“What’s strange about it?”
Demeter didn’t even raise her eyes.
“I’m the goddess, so my word is final.
Besides, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving a newcomer alone.”
“If you secretly try anything strange during the night, I’ll be here to discover it and stop you immediately.”
“What kind of person do you think I am…?”
Genichi muttered weakly.
“A young man from another world who possesses [Slaanesh].”
Demeter looked up and gave him a brilliant smile.
“Isn’t that description clear enough?”
Genichi decided to stop responding.
If this conversation continued, he feared she might anger him to death.
He removed his coat, leaving only a thin undershirt, then crawled beneath the bedding and wrapped it tightly around himself.
The floor was rather hard, but the bedding was thick enough to make it bearable.
Everything that had happened today had been far too overwhelming.
The Transmigration Gate had deposited him inside a bathroom, where Demeter caught him.
She then forced him to join her Familia, revealed his newly awakened magic and skill, and negotiated three conditions with him.
Every event had thrown his emotions up and down like a roller coaster.
Even now, his heart had yet to settle completely.
Regardless of everything else, he was temporarily safe.
Genichi closed his eyes and felt his body gradually relaxing.
Soft page-turning sounds came from Demeter’s side of the room, accompanied by her occasional quiet exclamations.
She had probably reached an exciting part of the manga.
Genichi ignored her and slowly sank into a deep sleep.
The day had exhausted him.
Using the Transmigration Gate had drained his stamina.
Being startled by Demeter several times and negotiating their agreement had also pushed his mind and body to their limits.
Before long, Genichi’s breathing became slow and steady as he fell into a deep sleep.
What he didn’t know was that once he fell asleep, his magic known as [Dreamwalking] activated automatically.
Deep within his consciousness, a sphere of gentle light began gathering and spinning like a seed quietly sprouting in the darkness.
The light grew brighter, gradually outlining the hazy shape of an entire world.
Drawn by that power, Genichi slowly descended into a dream he had never expected.
Something appeared to be waiting for him inside that dream.
Or rather, someone was waiting for him.
On the bed, Demeter lowered the phone and turned toward the sleeping Genichi.
A thoughtful smile appeared on her lips.
“[Dreamwalking]…
activated on its own?”
She murmured to herself, her gaze becoming unfathomably deep.